Causes of AC Units Blowing Warm Air

It’s springtime, and as a homeowner, that means you’ll want to be on top of your HVAC system headed into the warm season. You need your air conditioning unit to be at peak functionality when you get to the hottest months.

At Rapid Repair Experts, we’re here to help. With us, you’ll get an HVAC contractor who can address your entire system and identify any problem areas before they become big issues. One of the most common air conditioning problems? A unit that blows hot air instead of cold. Let’s look at a few reasons why this might happen.

Storm Issues

In certain singular situations, a large storm in your area can create issues in your AC system. This is most commonly in the form of a blown capacitor, which can cause the system to stop pumping cold air and only blowing hot.

Leaking Refrigerant

The single most common cause of AC malfunction is a leak of refrigerant, which can happen for a few different reasons. These leaks are usually fairly random and tough to predict, though high usage seasons can obviously put more strain on the system than low-usage seasons. Pre-summer tune-ups are one of the best ways to prevent this issue, as you often won’t be able to see it even as it’s happening.

Thermostat Issues

In some cases, warm air issues are the fault of the homeowner alone – some people simply forget to change the thermostat from warm to cool once summer hits, or their kids accidentally hit the wrong switch. Also make sure temperatures aren’t automatically set too high.

Frozen Unit

You may not think a frozen AC unit would spit out hot air, but this is often exactly what happens. The frozen part of a unit is the evaporator coil, which when frozen will block cool air from coming into the home. Instead, the heat from the motor will be the only air that’s pushed out. To prevent this, keep the thermostat around 70 degrees on average and have one of our technicians examine your unit at the start of the season.

Blown Breaker Switch

The outdoor AC unit has a power supply, but a bad circuit breaker here can screw things up. Breakers may flip off due to power overloads – if this is happening to you, consider whether you might be overloading your electrical system.